Super Wasp Nests in Alabama

He had the wrong tool for the job

Well no he had the perfect tool he just didn't use it

This was in a smokehouse ... that's like finding a wasp nest in your bbq and not just lighting it and laughing

I definitely would not want a yellow jacket nest near my house, but if they are far away, I will leave them alone.

If I am not mistaken, they eat house flies.

Now if a Japanese Hornet nest is located, I will do everything possible to eradicate them. They will absolutely destroy Honeybee hives, and have killed people, that were unfortunate to have disturbed their nest.

That is one of the reasons I will not mow fields in the summer. There is too much risk disturbing a nest. I have accidentally disturbed Yellow Jacket nests during mowing, and was able to escape with a few stings.

There's no escaping Japanese Hornets, when their nest is disturbed. Not many people have lived to tell about it.

originally posted by: Edumakated
a reply to: LookingAtMars

That nest is big, but hardly anything unusual in the south.

This one here is the stuff of nightmares. I bet you can't watch it without your skin itching.

Yellow Jackets are the spawn of the devil. Flying azzholes.

That video gave me the Heebee Jeebees. I would still be afraid of that many hornets if I was in a space suit.

originally posted by: Edumakated

originally posted by: rickymouse
I have seen a huge wasp or bees nest like that before. I do not know what kind of insect made it, I just backed off when I saw the big swarm and did not go back in that area anymore.

Many wasps are not a problem if you leave their nest alone. Some are even real docile. but there are a few radical groups and kinds of wasps and hornets that get all fired up when they see anyone.

It looks like some sort of deformed hornet nest to me.

However, it could be a plain ole yellow jacket nest. They will pretty build a nest in anything although in ground is the most common. There are several videos of them with nests in walls. My guess is that it may have started out in a soffit/gutter and as the colony grew, it expanded outside into the shape in the picture.

That is what happen when there are no building codes or local ordinances on how to build houses. Local ordinances should be put on the wall so the hornets, wasps, and bees can read them.

Just how the hell does that go unnoticed for so long to get THAT big?? 2 months my ass, he hasn't been around it in a lot longer than that, and if he was in there a couple months ago, he's as oblivious as they come

originally posted by: Lucidparadox
I am generally fearless. I laugh in the face of any and all danger...

I cry and scream and shriek bloody murder in the face of wasps as I run away in terror

So does my husband, but he's anaphylactic allergic to bees, and since wasps, yellow jackets and I think hornets have the same venom, he's extremely paranoid when he sees multiple of anything that stings flying around outside. I have heard an almost Ned Flanders-type yelp and him blaze a trail inside, so you're not alone in the terror, his is just for deadly allergy reasons

wasps are indeed assholes. the sting (and can continue to sting as long as they are not killed by you), they bite (and when the do they tend to take chunks out of you), and they will even steal chunks of meat right out of the sandwich you are trying to eat.

i can't see how nests get that big, unless the area has not been visited in a couple years. not in just a couple of months.

i always found the best way to deal with nests (admittedly small nests). was to hit the nest with a hose with good water pressure. and from a distance. then run just in case. lol

a reply to: Edumakated

Omg... he is going to need a larger can of that bug be gone

The construction of it is a master piece

Wait until night. Cover the nest with plastic and tape or weight down the edges [use a trash bag for smaller nests.] Before sealing it off, put a few cans of bug fumigant fogger inside. Pop the triggers. Wait until morning.

Repeat as necessary.

Surprisingly, although dangerous to use, gasoline kills them on contact. Soaks through their exoskeleton instantly. Get a sprayer with a wide spray and soak the nest good, spray in an up and down and side to side motion before they have time to react.

They do have a purpose and are beneficial to the environment so, killing them in isolated areas is not a good idea.

a reply to: eManym

Gasoline is ok for underground nests or nests in trees, but gasoline for nests in buildings is not a good plan. Big underground yellowjacket nests will succumb to dry ice. Powder the dry ice in a rag using a mallet. At night, cover the nest with plastic and seal/weight the edges after putting a container of the dry ice and a funnel inside. Pour into the nest. Can also just put the dry ice under the tarp but it will take a little longer. CO2 is roughly 1.5 times as dense as air and will displace it and fill the nest with CO2. Sleepy time [permanent] for yellow jackets.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

I'm thinking a can of Lynx and lighter is just not going to cut the Mustard with that mob.

I hate to make everyones skin crawl even more, but I followed the source link in the article linked in the OP, and it went back to the original NYT article....the actual photo of this monster is even more horrifying than the pic in the OP.

www.nytimes.com...


I agree with my hubs, "Oh hell no. Nope! Nuke the f#er from orbit, we're building a new smokehouse, burn it to the ground!"

I decimated an hornet nest once with a strategically placed bug zapper that was rigged to stay on. (I assume a bug zapper would work too, obvi)... once one “got got,” others would come to its rescue/revenge and land on the zapping surface, too... it was exponential destruction for a while...

I’m way more anti-destruction now, but they’re not like honey bees, in that you relocate them, as far as I know...

originally posted by: Nyiah
I hate to make everyones skin crawl even more, but I followed the source link in the article linked in the OP, and it went back to the original NYT article....the actual photo of this monster is even more horrifying than the pic in the OP.

www.nytimes.com...


I agree with my hubs, "Oh hell no. Nope! Nuke the f#er from orbit, we're building a new smokehouse, burn it to the ground!"

Wow!

Thanks for finding that

originally posted by: pteridine
a reply to: eManym

Gasoline is ok for underground nests or nests in trees, but gasoline for nests in buildings is not a good plan. Big underground yellowjacket nests will succumb to dry ice. Powder the dry ice in a rag using a mallet. At night, cover the nest with plastic and seal/weight the edges after putting a container of the dry ice and a funnel inside. Pour into the nest. Can also just put the dry ice under the tarp but it will take a little longer. CO2 is roughly 1.5 times as dense as air and will displace it and fill the nest with CO2. Sleepy time [permanent] for yellow jackets.

A little water and dish washing liquid kills them almost instantly...

Brake cleaner knocks them out of the air and won't kill you.

Roofers have it tough, with noplace to run.

The middle picture is a dirt dauber where I come from. Yes, the last picture is a yellow jacket. We have red wasp, and guinea wasps that are yellow with black bands on the abdomen that build nests under eves of houses but that looks like a hornet's nest to me.

originally posted by: CharlesT
The middle picture is a dirt dauber where I come from. Yes, the last picture is a yellow jacket. We have red wasp, and guinea wasps that are yellow with black bands on the abdomen that build nests under eves of houses but that looks like a hornet's nest to me.

We had red wasps in GA too. Those mofos can put a hurting on you. They are not that aggressive, but they will absolutely light your azz up. Hands down the worst wasp sting I've ever experienced.

I hate yellow jackets because they are so aggressive. They just pester you for no reason.

I'm super allergic to them. I went into anaphylatic shock when I was about 9 or 10 years old from getting stung on the head by a hornet. I had to get anti-venom shots for two years to get my immunity up. They still send me to the ER though. Last time I got stung was a few years ago. A yellow jacket got into my motorcycle jacket when I was riding. Got me like three times on the shoulder. I was very lucky it didn't make me crash. At first thought a car kicked up a rock that hit me. Wound up in ER that night.

a reply to: zeta55

I researched Japanese Hornets, to find out how to avoid them, and where they build their nests.

What I found out, is, Japanese Hornets don't exist in the United States. What we have are European hornets. They look very similar.

I have been under the impression, for all my life, these large yellow hornets, were Japanese Hornets, and to do whatever possible, to eradicate them.

From my research, European hornets have been protected since 1987, in Germany. They are beneficial predators of many harmful insects.

I feel bad I was misinformed, and needlessly killed a beneficial hornet, out of my unfounded fear.

Yellow Jackets are also beneficial. I realize we can't have them near our homes, or where we would disturb their nest, but should be left alone when they pose no danger to us, or our animals.

I just wanted to make that clarification. It may help someone else to have less fear, as I now do.